Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Dec 5;16(1):41-46.
doi: 10.1515/med-2021-0010. eCollection 2021.

Additional baricitinib loading dose improves clinical outcome in COVID-19

Md Jahidul Hasan  1 , Raihan Rabbani  2 , Ahmad Mursel Anam  3 , Shihan Mahmud Redwanul Huq  2
Affiliations

Additional baricitinib loading dose improves clinical outcome in COVID-19

Md Jahidul Hasan et al. Open Med (Wars). .

Abstract

Pneumonia associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been accounted for high mortality rate in severe COVID-19 worldwide, and additional serious scarcity of standard and effective anti-inflammatory drug in COVID-19 pneumonia management is a big challenge. Baricitinib, a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, is a promising drug in COVID-19 pneumonia. This study aims to compare the clinical outcome of moderate-to-severe COVID-19 pneumonia treated with baricitinib with or without a loading dose. This prospective case-control study enrolled 37 adult patients where 17 patients (control) received baricitinib at 4 mg oral daily dose and 20 patients (case) received an additional single 8 mg oral loading dose. The median day to gain blood oxygen saturation level ≥95% (in room air) and return in normal breathing function were lower in case group than the control group. The requirement of intensive care unit and mechanical ventilation support was higher in the control group than in the case group [29.4% (N = 17)/10% (N = 20), P < 0.05; 11.8% (N = 17)/5% (N = 20), P > 0.05), respectively]. Thus, an additional loading dose of baricitinib revealed better clinical outcome of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.

Keywords: COVID-19 pneumonia; baricitinib; loading dose; maintenance dose.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

References

    1. World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic; 2020 [cited 2020 July10]. Available from https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus....
    2. World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. 2020. [cited 2020 July10]. Available from https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus....
    1. World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation reports-173. Geneva: WHO; 2020 [cited 2020 July11]. Available from https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/2....
    2. World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation reports-173. Geneva: WHO; 2020. [cited 2020 July11]. Available from https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/2....
    1. Ruan Q, Yang K, Wang W, Jiang L, Song J. Clinical predictors of mortality due to COVID-19 based on an analysis of data of 150 patients from Wuhan, China. Intensive Care Med. 2020;46(5):846–48. 10.1007/s00134-020-05991-x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    2. Ruan Q, Yang K, Wang W, Jiang L, Song J. Clinical predictors of mortality due to COVID-19 based on an analysis of data of 150 patients from Wuhan, China. Intensive Care Med. 2020;46(5):846–48. doi: 10.1007/s00134-020-05991-x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Atal S, Fatima Z. IL-6 inhibitors in the treatment of serious COVID-19: A promising therapy? Pharm Med. 2020;34(4):223–31. 10.1007/s40290-020-00342-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    2. Atal S, Fatima Z. IL-6 inhibitors in the treatment of serious COVID-19: A promising therapy? Pharm Med. 2020;34(4):223–31. doi: 10.1007/s40290-020-00342-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Onder G, Rezza G, Brusaferro S. Case-fatality rate and characteristics of patients dying in relation to COVID-19 in Italy. JAMA Netw. 2020;323(18):1775–6. - PubMed
    2. Onder G, Rezza G, Brusaferro S. Case-fatality rate and characteristics of patients dying in relation to COVID-19 in Italy. JAMA Netw. 2020;323(18):1775–6. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources